I commend Ashley Campbell for testifying before the Senate Aging Committee last week in Washington, D.C.

Ashley spoke of her father, Glen Campbell, and his struggle with Alzheimer’s.

The family’s bravery in publicizing Mr. Campbell’s life should be applauded.

As a daughter who lost her mother to Alzheimer’s, I understand Ms. Campbell’s plea to Congress for a cure.

For several years, I watched the disease slowly erode my own mother’s cognitive and physical abilities. She survived breast cancer, maintained her diabetes through medication and diet, but could not overcome the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s and passed away last year. The pain of watching my mother slowly wither away will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Last week, I attended the Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C. Though I felt educated regarding the financial toll it has on families, I was astonished to learn that Alzheimer’s is now the most expensive disease in America today, surpassing both cancer and heart disease. This year it will cost Americans an estimated $203 billion to care for those with the disease, including $142 billion in Medicare and Medicaid costs. With more than 5 million Americans suffering today, as many as 60,000 in Arkansas, the number is expected to reach16 million by 2050. This will create an enormous strain on our health care system, families, and our state and federal budget. Our country is currently ill-equipped to meet this demand. Though Congress unanimously passed the bipartisan National Alzheimer’s Project Act in 2010, where one goal is to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025, the amount of money appropriated to finding a cure has been minimal. If we don’t put forth the effort now, Americans will pay for it later to the tune of an estimated $20 trillion over the next 40 years. I’m not sure Medicare and Medicaid will still be available if we are paying trillions for just one disease. If we are to avoid this, we need to throw all our efforts into research for a cure or treatment right now. I was fortunate to meet a number of our elected officials in Washington, including Congressman Womack and Sen. Boozman.

I am thankful for their past support and hopeful for their continued concern. Our elected officials can provide leadership by supporting the president’s 2014 budget request of $100 million for research and education and cosponsoring the Hope for Alzheimer’s Act. This will allow us to make headway in finding a cure by 2025. For information on Alzheimer’s please visit www.alz.org.

MEG KERTZMAN

Bentonville

Opinion, Pages 5 on 05/02/2013